Comments on: Inventory: What Do I Include?

By: Val

Val — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 14:54:03 +0000

Hi Laura,
When I first started out, I used the dollar amount I spent during the year on jewelry making supplies as my inventory at the start of the year. I use Turbo Tax home/business since I work a full time job as well. It has been great since it calculates my year end inventory after factoring in sales and that amount carries over into the following year. Best of luck with the dreaded tax paperwork!
Val

By: Sue Moore

Sue Moore — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 14:23:54 +0000

Hi Laura, I do use an Excel spreadsheet for tracking all my beads and components. Everytime I buy something, I add it to my spreadsheet. Date, where bought, how much spent, #beads/components and price per piece. Then I mark that on the bead packaging the price per piece until I can get it into my organizer. I mark the space in the organizer with the price. Then as I make each piece of jewelry I can keep track of how much it costs to make. This not only helps me figure out how much to charge as I make one of a kind pieces too but it also helps me figure my profit when the piece sells. It’s been working for me so far as I’m still kind of new to this whole business. I know there are programs out there that are probably less time consuming but I guess upfront I haven’t wanted to spend a lot of money for something yet. Hope this information helps. Good luck!

By: Karen Simmons-Milligan

Karen Simmons-Milligan — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 14:05:39 +0000

Hi Laura, one thing that would help is a computer program designed for tracking components and finished goods-could be your own Excel sheet. I use Jewelry Designer Manager (www.jewelrydesignermanager.com) which may seem pricey at first investment but if you enter your components (gems, headpins, clasps, etc) as you purchase you will love inventory at the end of the year. Press a button, print the report, and there is your inventory at COST (which is what you need for the IRS) of parts and parts in finished goods. You can do a physical inventory- spot check one thing in each category- just to verify. I like this program because it also allows you to print price tags, invoices, track consignment, and several other functions depending which level program you purchase.

You will also have a vendor list, can keep accurate track of parts pricing and price increases and it does give you suggestions (based on percentage of mark up) on retail, wholesale pricing.

I hate taking the time to enter all my purchases, assemble my finished good parts lists, etc. during the entire year, it seems so tedious, but last week when I pushed “Print” for my inventory reports and the inventory was done– the value is priceless! When you have 1000’s of gem beads and 1000’s of pearls and other components, this will pay for itself in time and accuracy.

Keeping an accurate inventory of all your components will help you not over purchase or duplicate parts and keep your spending on budget. The program even has a space for re-order minimums so you can be alerted when you are running low on something you use a lot.
Good luck!
Karen

By: Rena Klingenberg

Rena Klingenberg — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 00:04:13 +0000

Hi Laura! This is a question that plagues U.S. jewelry artists at the beginning of every new year as we approach tax time. Here are two helpful conversations we've had about this topic in the past - and we're lucky to have some jewelry artists who are also accountants participating in the comments below each of these posts: The Business of Beads - Bookkeeping The KISS (keep it simple) Theory I hope you find these discussions helpful, Laura! :)

By: Rich Yodis

Rich Yodis — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 02:36:54 +0000

Laura – I’m in the same boat (kinda). It’s bed. Almost exactly a year that ive started putting a lot more effort into my jewelry bus. I can’t offer much legal/tax advice, but if you are organized enough, I’ve been told its best to know how many components go into a piece, what they cost per item (bead, headpin, clasp, etc) and how many come in one package.
I’m still working out kinks like this – I make chainmaille so I have literally hundreds of different rings; handmade and store bought. For me taking inventory would be almost impossible. I just itemize clasps beads and total # of jumprings used for each piece and find the total of the cost to me to make the piece. I have no idea what amount of detail is required by the IRS but I’d suggest being as thorough as possible without losing your mind. And be sure to save all your receipts!!